Cinderella Has To Choose
by PhangirlBookworm
Summary: We all know the story of Cinderella, a girl forced to serve but needing the chance to love, love a Prince. How wrong this is! Young Elenna is in love with Justin, the blacksmith in her widowed step-mothers home, the same home that she serves. But when an unexpected turn of events brings her dining with royalty and falling in love with the richest Duke, Lloyd.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1  
Elenna and Justin raced together through the thick wheat as they made their way to their favorite spot of the field. Elenna felt her dainty hand be grasped as he pumped his legs faster, ensuring they would get there in time. A slight crimson was pushed from Elenna's porcelain cheeks as she lifted her skirt to avoid tripping in her only dress.

"Would you slow down, you crazy boy?" Elenna's sing-song voice echoed in the countryside. Elenna slowed her step and tugged the man towards her. Together they walked hand in hand toward the Cliff.

Cliff Amnecroft was a very astonishing beauty. You could see the churning ocean pouring and folding over itself in its silky, sapphire bed. The waning gold sun dipped lower towards the horizon, leaving a shimmering and spectactlar color over the whole surface.

Elenna took off her only shoes as she made her way to the Amnecroft's rocky edge. Her dress was thin and had a red wine stain that was the effect of Mellena tripping over her big feet. The rocks poked into her calloused feet slightly as she tip toed her way as far as she dared to approach the edge: she went quite far.

Justin came behind the girl and held her shoulders. Justin, the blacksmith of the Estate of Beshte, was a very firm man. His trim waist wound up to his muscular chest with his titanium shoulders that lifted large amounts of iron on a daily basis. Though a tough figure, he had a handsome face and a smile that could charm even the ladies of the court who appeared for tea.  
Now, the smile showered in the glory of Elenna.

Elenna's delicate arms stretched out from her body as she closed her eyes. She rose slowly onto her toes as she let the ocean breeze perfume her clothes, her hair, her. Her long hair flowed in bouncing curls behind her.

"Isn't it lovely?" Elenna opened her eyes to look back at her lifelong friend. Justin and Elenna have been the greatest of friends since her father died years ago.

"Very," Justin whispered as Elenna smiled at the distant ocean. They were the greatest friends. They would come here whenever released of their duties at the house and would dream in silence.

Elenna dreamed of glory and freedom. Entrapped in her own house, freedom seemed like such a costly thing. Her Step-family was truly horrendous. Mellena and Crystelle moaned about unimportant things and were always so giddy and gay. The girls had beautiful strawberry hair and deep emerald eyes, but those hardly out ruled their girlishness. She would never wish harm, but she wished freedom with all her might.

She would someday escape. Whether by getting a steady occupation or marrying. Now, all she could do was "fly" on this very cliff.

Justin pulled her slightly away from the edge and measured the time from horizon to the sun. It was 5:00!

"We must go, Elle!" He picked up a glimmering rock. The shiny surface was a beautiful black that glowed with the slightest ray of sun. A Pearl.  
He tucked the valuable rock in his pocket as he tried to pry her away from the edge.

"But we just got here! Tis unfair to leave so soon from such a sight." The golden haze showered her in beauty as she smiled greatly. "I will not leave so soon. Whatever they say or do."

"But I must sharpen the sword for the wall of the dining hall!" Lady Insibella was very picky about the appearances of her house. But looking at the beautiful girl on the edge, Insibella was not concerned about her stepdaughters welfare.

"And they ordered the cinders clean by 6:00, the floors scrubbed by hand, the tea made with lemon to freshen Crystelle's breath, their collars starched and their hair in curls for the 'morrow." Looking back at Justin she raised her eyebrows. "I must go back but my need to stay a minute longer is more necessary. Just look at the sun, smell the breeze! Wonderful miracles are happening here!"

Hanging his head with a sigh, moving down his hands from the sun, Justin sat with the girl as they watched the sun moving gracefully over the sky.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2  
Arriving four minutes late from the beginning of supper, Elenna rushed into the house's kitchen door and wiped away the rocks that stuck to her dress. She put an apron on over her dress and said hurried hellos to her fellow cooks.

Piling platters and trays upon her arms, she gracefully glided into the dining hall where three women sat. Insibella shot daggers at Elenna as she arranged the feast around the much to large table. She set down the tray with three wine glasses that sloshed slightly with the movement.

While Elenna laid out the food, she wondered what Justin was doing. Butterflies flourished in her flabbergasted stomach and she looked at the turkey longingly. She realized that she hadn't eaten in ages.

The sound of ceramic breaking awoke her thoughts. Crystelle and Mellena were fighting over the salad again. Every night, they have to be tamed from their vegetarian diet.

"Cindergirl!" The commanding break in voice came from Insibella. "Pick the tray up! How many times must I tell you to divide the salad to three parts?"

"I don't know-," stuttered Elenna as she moved towards the shattered plate. "I'm sorry."

"Your apologizes are unacceptable. Crystelle and Mellena have very delicate skin. I can not have them scratched!" Insibella elegantly grabbed tongs and put a healthy portion of white meat on her plate. She followed the bird with spinach, garlic potatoes, and the sliced mangoes delivered from a strange farm in Central Asia.

Elenna remembered her last meal of a boiled egg and some mutton gristle. The small meal was quite a feast for a girl of her size and position of the house. Just looking at the table-fulls of delicacies made her nervous of her manners. She was terribly frightened that at any moment her facade would crack and she would lunge at the meal.

She twisted her plain dress around her hands as she waited to be summoned by the Duchess or the daughters.

Yes her father was the Duke of Beshte. The man that never seemed to break his hold on money and never seemed to break his heart full of good nature and philanthropist striving eyes. He saw everyone as equals and wanted them to know they were welcome in the large estate that was his home.

But upon the insistence of the King, my father married a royal cousin who had twins upon another marriage. The true nature of the woman was quite concealed until her husband died of a heart attack in his quarters late at night.  
At once the frail girl was put to work and her daughters were presented to the court as the Duke's daughters and soon, Elenna faded into dust and dirt. The girl that once had been the sweetest of heart turned from relationships to a shy, delicate girl. The girl of 19 years had her red lips in a constant connected line and had her cheeks emotionless at all cost.

Her once well kept and neatly cut golden mane overgrown in a dull, old twine ribbon. Her once glowing eyes were faded with worry and saddness and her beautiful gowns have been worn and replaced by the sisters raiding her very own house.

"Elenna," The foul voice of Insibella shrieked as if the girl were a hundred miles away. The girl stepped forward slowly. "Tonight you must go pick up the parchment from the printers. I will send you the servant's carriage. If one wrinkle appears upon the sheets, you will have no meals for three days. You must also pick up the girl's receipt for the lace-."

"Lace?" Crystelle giggled as if the word was a joke. "What for, Mother?"  
Insibella cleared her throat as if she had been waiting for her daughter to gain a mind. Then she looked from side to side as if she was waiting for an audience to silence. She stared at her daughters and at the walls. Then at Elenna.

"Go get started on the chores, Elenna." The stern woman dismissed her stepdaughter. Whatever it was, she obviously didn't want Elenna to know. Looking at her feet, she made her way into the kitchen but paused at the door to listen.

She heard mumbles and the chink of metal on the fine crystal glasses. Elenna cringed at the noise of her father's favorite glasses being struck. Then she heard a sentence that silenced the girls and Elenna herself. The prince is holding a ball to find his betrothed.

With a gasp, the girl moved from the door with wonderful dreams dancing in her head towards the door. The Prince is having a ball!  
With a wild rush, she grabbed her dark blue shawl from the wooden box and ran out towards the blacksmith shed.


End file.
